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Tried running a Win10 VM on my unraid box with the intent to be able to VPN in during down time at work and mess around in visual studio on some personal projects. However, it seems incredibly slow loading anything, user inputs delayed, and high CPU usage. Comparatively, running a Win10 VM on my gaming PC feels quite snappy (hosted and accessed on same pc). Differences between unRaid machine vs. my gaming PC: Hardware Unraid machine - Core i3-4360 w/ 8gb DDR3 ECC memory *VM stored on SSD cache drive and never moved to array Gaming PC - i7-11700k w/ 32gb DDR4 memory Network Unraid VM is accessed over wired LAN via VM Console (VMC) Hyper V VM on gaming PC is accessed from the same gaming PC (connection not over ethernet) Configuration Is there something wrong with my Unraid VM configuration causing excessive slowness? Currently pinned to CPU 0 only, but same result with CPU 0 / 2 and leaving it on CPU 0 / 2 and CPU 1 / 3 Given 3gb memory out of 8gb available on the machine Demo video (Unraid at beginning, Gaming PC VM at end) Is my unRaid Win10 VM this slow due to old hardware, accessing over ethernet vs. from same PC, or an Unraid VM configuration or other incorrect setting?

Got it, Thanks! So just pop it in, assign disk, and start rebuild. Then it will just rebuild the pre-existing 3TB of data and write zeros for remaining 7TB?

Current config is (2) 10TB and (4) 3TB drives with a single parity setup. Bought a 14TB drive to replace the existing 10TB parity drive and let Unraid rebuild parity with the new 14TB parity drive in place. Now I want to take the old 10TB parity drive and replace a 3TB data drive in the disk array. Do I need to preclear, or at a minimum format, the old 10TB parity drive before adding to the disk array and letting it rebuild?

As an update, preclear finished successfully this time around. Installed into array as parity drive, rebuilt successfully and seems to be working fine. SMART test also showed no errors. As mentioned above, the errors were like due to some USB issue and not disk fault.

Got it, thanks! What in the log makes you suspect USB problem and not a disk problem? For example, can those returned hex values be looked up and point towards a USB problem? Or are you going off of experience where these types of errors show up, but disk preclears fine -> usually USB problem? Last question, what would cause a 3TB drive to run with no errors, but 14TB is consistently throwing I/O errors around same % of the preread process?

Thanks. I'll let the preclear run its course, assuming it doesn't hang up, and then plug in drive to another PC via SATA and check SMART status. Looks like a few more sectors popped up with I/O errors (16 sectors total now) and at 56% preread. If SMART test passes, how would you interpret the I/O read errors at various sectors during this preread? Additional, what else should I be looking for in the logs for additional issues (ie. power issue, connection issue, etc)? Full diag logs attached, preread cycle at 57%. tower-diagnostics-20221231-2338.zip

Just bought a WD Red Plus 14TB (WD140EFGX) that I intend to replace & upsize the parity drive with. My normal process is to put the new drive in a USB3.0 external drive enclosure, plug into Unraid box, and preclear it before adding to the array. However, the 14TB drive keeps hanging within the first 2-4% of the pre-read cycle and has I/O errors showing up in the syslog. After a half dozen attempts, the preread process made it passed this 2-4% mark (13% and going strong), but had the same I/O errors listed in syslog. So I/O errors still there, just this time the preclear process didn't get stuck and hang for eternity. Are the consistent I/O errors during the first few % of pre-read indicative of a bad drive? Something funky happening as a result of doing this process via USB external vs. SATA? Related to software versions and preclear (Unraid 6.11.5, UD 2022.12.28, UD Preclear 2022.12.23)? syslog.txt

Been delaying on getting a better backup solution situated and was thinking piecing together a second unRAID pc might be the best solution. My spare lower capacity drives that were taken out of my main unRAID box would go into this second box. Then I'd either use syncback or duplicati to copy the important portion of data from my main box to the second unRIAD box. These backup drives would then be pulled from the second box and kept at work. Periodically, they would be brought home to allow for updates. This would also allow cast-offs to be added to the second box and increase the unRAID "drive" without requiring the backup software to have to completely rebuild. Thoughts on this?

Do you store the backup servers offsite? Then do you remotely update your "important" files or physical bring the server & disks to your main server for backup?

That's a good idea and had considered this. This is likely the cheapest and most reasonable option, however, my OCD of not having a 1:1 copy of everything else is yelling at me haha. Do you just use an old computer or did you buy a cheap option to house these drives and run an OS for backing up? EDIT: Another fairly cheap option.....Costco has sale on Seagate 8TB external for $130.

What's the cheapest way to build a 2nd unRAID box and populate it with storage space? Any suggestions, options, or other ideas? This setup would be for backing up my primary box and to keep it at an offsite location. In other words, it's not going to be running 24/7, would not have a parity drive, does not need brand new server grade disks, no need for processing power to transcode, etc. After reading some iffy reviews about crashplan and calculating my initial upload of 13 TB to take 16 months, online backups are out. My preferred option is to have a second unRAID box that I can leave at work and bring it home every couple months to locally sync new data to. The challenge is building one as cheap as possible. Luckily there's only two main components: a functional computer that can hold HDDs and the HDDs. I'm thinking my best bet is to find a used PC (mini-itx or micro-atx for smaller size) or a NAS box that can support 4 or 5+ HDDs. Think I'll be able to find something used < $150. Quite a few old servers for around $200, but server rack cases would be a pain to carry to/from work compared to a mini-ITX PC or small NAS box. As far a populating hard drives, the cheapest I can see to get many TB is: a) look at re certified and/or used drives. WD RED 10TB Refurbs are readily available for $200 ($20/TB). or b) wait for a special on external hard drives to gut. Seagate 8TB external runs $150 with no sale = $18.75/TB. Sure they aren't "NAS-grade", but they'll only run for maybe 1 day/month to sync new data.

Perfect, thanks. Time to order another 10TB. Do you run preclear via USB external enclosure too?

Currently have 6x 3TB WD Red drives in an 8-bay silverstone ds380 enclosure with single parity for a total of 15 TB (13.6 TB actual). Running out of space. Bought a 10 TB WD Red to swap in as new parity drive and that frees the 3 TB to be added to the data drive array. However, I overlooked the fact that all 6 sata ports on my motherboard are taken. I then planned to add a PCIE expansion card, but then found that even low profile cards will stick into the hard drive slot, limiting my case to only 7 HDDs (only 1 more than # of mobo SATA connectors). My next thought is that it would be better to swap the 3TB drives with 10TBs for additional space. Is upgrading from 6x 3TB to 2x 10TB / 4x 3TB a solid upgrade plan? Am I missing any glaring issues of going with this plan? Since my number of SATA connectors are currently all utilized, is a cheap USB HDD enclosure the best way be able to preclear the new HDDs using unRAID? After preclearing both new drives, is the proper HDD swap order: -Pull current 3 TB parity drive and install new 10TB parity drive -Let it rebuild parity on new 10TB drive -Pull one of the current 3 TB parity drives and install new 10TB data drive -Let it rebuild data

Any tips on finding used server pulls? For example, the copycat Dell H310 flashed to lsi 9211-8i below. Looks like a genuine Dell card (I know, looks can be deceiving), tested by seller, with 152 sold and 100% seller feedback. Can this card really be that bad? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-H310-6Gbps-SAS-HBA-w-LSI-9211-8i-P20-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/162834659601?epid=19006955695&amp;hash=item25e9b3b911:g:3TgAAOSwTf9ZWHPf:sc:USPSPriorityMailSmallFlatRateBox!48334!US!-1:rk:1:pf:0 EDIT: On second thought, another option might just be to start swapping my 3TB WD Reds with 10 TBs

This makes sense, however I'd rather not buy a server pull. 1) I'm too impatient to hunt around trying to find a server pull. 2) I'm not fond of saving $50 to get used hardware that has been potentially running 24/7 for 10+ years. Would this lsi 9211-8i card on amazon be a safe choice (link here)? Would have to flash to IT mode myself though.